Known locally as “the King”, this rugged hike through Spain’s Sierra Nevada tracks up over dramatic limestone and dolomite formations to a steep peak, offering ridiculous views across the surrounding ridges of the National Park and a healthy population of Iberian ibex pals to show you how it’s done.
The walk commences at a traditional country restaurant at the edge of the National Park called Fuente del Hervidero. There are no buses to the restaurant from either the nearby villages of Alpujarras or Granada during the week and few on weekends, so we used our traveller’s Spanish to hitchhike back to town from the base.
The first couple of hours follow a consistent incline, taking in views of the lower lying Los Arenales as you trail along the ridgeline of Trevenque to its peak at 2083m above sea level. Part of the pleasure of this hike is in its dramatic and exposed three-dimensionality due to the low lying shrubbery at altitude. Rather than your eye being drawn to your immediate foot or hand-hold, as in many hikes, the absence of thick vegetation enables unimpeded views over the national park’s spectacular peaks, sheer gorges and deep valleys throughout the first half of the walk.
After some scrambling to the top and a selfie with the wild Iberian goats manning the peak, the trail descends steeply down a loose, gravelly quartzite and limestone face. A pole is recommended for this section, as it is extremely slippery and too easy to end up sliding down in a dust orb. At the base, the trail turns into the leafy River Dilar Valley, offering shade, some water from a spring, fruit and fig trees, some cows and the Sierra Nevada blue butterfly if you are feeling lucky.
The trail takes around 6 hours (assuming you stop for lunch) and has no shade and no water during the first half of the walk so supplies are essential. It covers 16ks and ascends almost 1k vertically, so a good level of fitness is required, and is best done in early autumn or late spring – these arid peaks are snow capped in winter. We barely saw another human during the entire trail, and (after a late start) emerged triumphant from the valley at dusk.
By Marnie Morieson
Oct 2017
